Analyzing a case study of teaching English as an additional language

Part I: Analysis

You have spent five weeks learning all of the nuances of helping students learn English as an additional language. The process goes well beyond “just learning English” and includes very complicated processes that need explicit teaching of language. For the final assignment, you will combine everything you have learned to analyze a case study.

It is recommended that you choose the case study that fits with the age you have been choosing most throughout the course.
Part I: Analysis
Case Study Analysis.
Describe any unique characteristics of the students.
Hypothesize how these characteristics could impact language learning.
Propose what their current proficiency levels are.
Explain what evidence led you to that conclusion?
Propose which strategies are currently being used by the teacher.
Explain if the strategies are effective based on what we know? Why or why not? Provide evidence for your argument.
Synthesize what theories are currently being used by the teacher.
Propose what theories/concepts would be beneficial in this situation.
It will be important to provide specific examples and use vocabulary and concepts that we have learned in our course.
Part II: Action Plan
Propose two language objectives that would be beneficial for helping the ELLs progress in language at this point based on what you have read.
Integrate two interventions/activities for each language goal that will provide comprehensible input necessary for the students to progress.
Synthesize how you are applying fundamental theories, concepts, and vocabulary to develop the strategies/interventions.
To structure your writing,
Your audience will be a group of colleagues who are unfamiliar with these ideas or who need clarification and strategies to help with the presented problem.
Your role will be a well-informed teacher with knowledge of teaching ELLs.
The format will be an academic essay.
The purpose is to develop a clear response to the questions following the story.

Mrs. Serpe has been teaching for about 10 years; however this is the first year she can remember having ELLs who are coming in at lower proficiency levels. She is not always sure how to help them. Two of her students, Maria and Abed, have her particularly perplexed. 
Maria has been in the classroom now for about six months. Although she is silent in the classroom, Mrs. Serpe hears from the playground teachers that Maria has started talking with her friends on the playground. In class, Maria will respond with nods and smiles only. She does not talk. Mrs. Serpe is confused on how to help her, based on her proficiency level, and why Maria is now talking while on the playground, but will not talk in class. Mrs. Serpe does her best to hide her frustration and help Maria feel part of the classroom. However, since Maria came to the classroom with little English background, Mrs. Serpe feels somewhat lost on how to help her.
Abed, on the other hand, has been at this school for over a year now. He is doing very well. He speaks with friends on the playground and is involved in class discussions. He came to school with some English background. He is reading almost at grade level and is very outgoing, communicative, and engages well with peers both inside and out of the classroom. He can understand and make himself understood with a mostly accurate English grammatical system when speaking and listening. However, his writing is struggling. Although he writes, he has many grammatical mistakes, has trouble getting the words he speaks from his brain to the paper, and becomes easily frustrated.